IN 2012, PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNE Y James Frazier and his neighbor, music producer Eric Nordho;, got hookedon the zombie apocalypse TV drama The Walking Dead. When they learned the show was shooting abouta four-hour drive from their homes in Thompson’s Station, Tennessee, they went down and hung out on thestreet outside the makeup and costume trailers. ( This was before a rabid fan base necessitated gated sets.)On the way home, they decided to start a podcast, The Walker Stalkers Podcast With James & Eric. They got

TheWalking Dead’s director and executive producer to come on the podcast, and that prompted the show’s
actors to come on as well. As the number of Walker Stalkers subscribers grew, Frazier and Nordho; decided
to hold a meet-up that would bring fans together with the zombie slayers they adored. Problem: “I’d never
even planned a birthday party for my kids,” let alone an event for hundreds of people, Frazier said. He attended
comic book shows around the country, taking notes and meeting with organizers and actors. Eighty people
came to Fan Fest’s first event; last year’s Atlanta convention drew 70,000 attendees. —SHEILA MARIKAR

NO. 232 FAN FEST James Frazier, co-founder and owner;Three-year growth ;,;;;.;; 2016 revenue ;;;.; ;;;;;;;Extremely Fanatic$1,400Most expensive ticket—the Platinum VIP—fora Fan Fest convention320,931Number of tickets sold in2016 for all Fan Fest events$10MTotal value of ticketssold in 2016 forall Fan Fest events23Number of Fan Festevents set for 2018600,000SQUARE FEETLargest venue a Fan Festevent has taken over10 sec.Time it took for VIPtickets to sell out for 2016Walker Stalker Consin Atlanta and London

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